Before Tobias R. shoots several people in Hanau, he looks very calm. Even if the first police officers arrive relatively quickly at the first crime scene, the deployment of the Hessian police still raises some questions.
Berlin (AP) - Tobias R. was very calculated and cold-blooded in his attack in Hanau, Hesse, despite his mental illness.
As the members of the interior committee of the Bundestag reported on Thursday, he had been approached by an employee of the regulatory office about an hour before the first shot was fired near the first crime scene because his car was parked in a handicapped parking space. According to the Federal Attorney General Peter Frank, the meeting participants learned that he had not reacted aggressively and parked his vehicle.
So far there are no indications of possible supporters or supporters, the deputies reported. However, the investigators were still waiting for information from the FBI about possible contacts of Tobias R. during a trip to the USA in November 2018.
According to the information, Tobias R. shot nine people in Hanau on Wednesday last week within about twelve minutes. He obviously targeted people with foreign roots as victims, scouted out the shisha bars in which he later killed. He was "very strategic and planned," said Konstantin von Notz (Greens).
The MPs, citing Frank, reported that the assassin had first shot a person on the street at 9:58 p.m. Then he fled and killed a second person on the way before driving on to the Midnight bar and firing four shots through the door.
Meanwhile, the police received the first emergency calls. At 10:03 p.m., the first emergency vehicle was at the first scene, it was said. A person died at the Midnight bar, the MPs reported. When he went on, the man killed another person. He then killed four people in the foyer of a kiosk. In the neighboring arena bar, there was one death and several injuries.
At 10:10 p.m., the marksman then drove to his parents' apartment by car. His car is said to have been found there at 11.10 p.m. after evaluating a video recording and requesting a license plate. As one MP reported, the police only rang the doorbell - to no avail. Then a drone was sent to look through the window. The special task force entered the apartment at 3.03 a.m., several participants in the meeting reported unanimously.
According to her, the mother was dead in the living room. Tobias R.'s body was found at the basement exit. The Greens asked why it took so long for the police to intervene. "The question that remains is why the Hessian police did not immediately call the federal counter-terrorism units responsible," said CDU interior politician Marian Wendt.
Union political group spokesman Mathias Middelberg (CDU) said he sees "a very clear responsibility" for the AfD for the right-wing extremist attacks in recent months. It has contributed to a radicalization in society and should now "not talk yourself out". The deputy Martina Renner (left) gave the AfD and the anti-Islamic Pegida movement from Dresden shared responsibility. They "marked the victims", who were then murdered by neo-Nazis and armed racists.
43-year-old Tobias R. had a gun license. Union MPs suggested finding out whether the rules on the verification of arms owners in the countries are being implemented correctly. Before that, it didn't make sense to talk about tightening arms law, said committee chair Andrea Lindholz (CSU).
According to participants in the meeting, the police found three firearms: a Ceska that he borrowed from a local arms dealer was therefore in the car. His two own weapons - a Walther and a Sig Sauer - were discovered in the apartment. According to the report, one was at the body of Tobias R., another in another place in the apartment. The MPs learned that the shooter had fired a total of 52 shots. There were 18 more cartridges in the car. Investigators later found 350 cartridges in a backpack in his room. Tobias R. obviously suffered from delusions. In November 2019, he sent a letter to the Attorney General stating that he was being illegally monitored.
The special session of the interior committee began with a minute's silence for the victims of the attack. Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (CSU) said that there is currently a "high threat situation" due to right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. He is now talking to Islamic communities about how best to protect mosques. Helge Lindh (SPD) proposed the appointment of an anti-racism officer by the federal government. According to Petra Pau (left), Seehofer said that he himself was the top anti-racism officer.
The police currently classify 59 people nationwide as right-wing extremists. These are people who are believed to have committed a serious crime that is dangerous to the state, right up to an attack. Another 126 people are considered "relevant people" in the extreme right-wing spectrum.
The Federal Conference of Migrant Organizations wrote in a letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) that a quarter of the population had a migration background and now feared "for its integrity, for its future and that of its children". It called for more participation for people with an immigration history. There is not a single politician in the federal cabinet who has experience of racism.
